Stefan’s well-educated parents emigrated from the Balkans when Stefan was an infant to escape the violence tearing through their country. He grew up feeling different from his friends. His parents spoke with an accent, didn’t automatically understand American customs, and insisted on taking Stefan back to Croatia during summer breaks to visit family after the violence ended. He didn’t fit into his parents’ homeland or his own new home. He felt fundamentally different from his parents and yet deeply bound to them. Betwixt and between, he was confused by having to face the world on his own.